%0 Journal article
%A Kniebusch, Madline
%A Meier, H.E. Markus
%A Radtke, Hagen
%T Changing Salinity Gradients in the Baltic Sea As a Consequence of Altered Freshwater Budgets
%R 10.1029/2019GL083902
%R 10.23689/fidgeo-4984
%J Geophysical Research Letters
%V 46
%N 16

%X Climate change is expected to enhance the hydrological cycle in northern latitudes reducing the salinity in the Baltic Sea, a land-locked marginal sea with a large catchment area located in northern Europe. With the help of ocean simulations forced by historical atmospheric and hydrological reconstructions and local observations, we analyzed long-term changes in the sea surface salinity of the Baltic Sea as well as its latitudinal gradient. The variability of both is dominated by multidecadal oscillations with a period of about 30 years, while both atmospheric variables, wind and river runoff, contribute to this variability. Centennial changes show a statistically significant positive trend in the North-South gradient of sea surface salinity for 1900–2008. This change is mainly attributed to increased river runoff from the northernmost catchment indicating a footprint of the anthropogenic impact on salinity with consequences for the marine ecosystem and species distributions.
%U http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/9330
%~  FID GEO-LEO e-docs